Matilda Wren (26 page)

Sean wasn’t feeling strong though, he was beginning to lose the plot, if he was honest. He was desperately trying to hold everything together but it was all unravelling about him. He was incensed at what Maisy had done; enraged at her nerve. Taking Katie with her was a slight for him. It was personal, he knew that.

Maisy was telling him she had won in the end. She had got one over on him and taken away all he ever truly cared about; power and control. The saving grace for Sean was that she was dead, which meant nobody would ever know the truth. Even so, she had taken with her that beautiful little girl, who had put sunlight into his world. He would have throttled his sister’s bare neck if she wasn’t already departed.

It had almost finished him off, having to play the bereaved brother and son. It was an emotion that was alien to him and he surprised himself, at how well he managed to keep up the pretence. Now it was taking its toll though.

Sean wasn’t sure at all how much longer he could keep it all together.

His sister’s death had affected him more than he realised it could. Killing Greg was a means to an end and it had worked. Rachel had let him swoop in and play the hero to her and Adam. He had become intricately engaged into Adam’s life almost immediately and Rachel was too absorbed in grief to think, or see things for what they were.

Sean’s plan was coming together and then Maisy went and pulled a stunt like that, which in turn took his parents out too. Sean only had Alice left and they hardly spoke to one another. Alice hadn’t even turned up for their mother’s funeral. She had sent a note with some flowers, explaining she didn’t see the point in making two trips down to Essex and that she would see everybody at Maisy and Katie’s.

Like it was some kind of family gathering she was excusing herself from.

They couldn’t all be buried at once due to the nature of the deaths. Maureen’s body had been released first, so they had to have two separate funerals. They had hardly exchanged two words to each other when they met; although Alice was secretly impressed with her brother’s house.

Whatever way he had made his money, he had certainly invested it wisely. She was also impressed with the relationship he seemed to have with his girlfriends’ son. She watched them in the church, during the service. Sean had scarcely taken any notice of the proceedings and seemed more occupied in entertaining the boy.

It was the same during the wake, back at his. Everybody was milling around quietly, sombrely; while Sean was running round the garden with Adam on his shoulders, pretending to be an aeroplane. The scene took her back, to a time where it was Maisy being entertained. Alice shivered as she felt a dark potent awareness came over her. It never felt right, the attention he frittered away on her sister. There was something unnatural and twisted about it. It wasn’t that Alice was jealous; she definitely didn’t want or require the same interest. She knew it was wrong.

It dawned on Alice she didn’t know half the people at her sister and niece’s funeral, there were a few odd family members, not many, but the rest were there for Sean she guessed. She didn’t know it for sure, but suspected she was sharing the room with some of South East England’s finest criminal masterminds; all there to show respect and loyalty to Sean.

As much as she was disgusted with the whole idea of her brother, she had to begrudgingly admire him for his success.

The missing presence of her father vibrated the room and Alice felt sadness at the tattered disaster her family was.

She and Sean were the only ones left; they only had each other now. It was a sobering thought.

Alice always believed she didn’t belong to her family.

Even as a child, she pretended she was adopted. Her sister was a complete nut job and the devil possessed sociopath her brother developed into, only gave her more reasons to believe she really didn’t belong; their lives incompatible with each others.

Alice thought very highly of herself and despised her humble beginnings. The humiliated shame she felt, of her council estate childhood, was obvious to anyone that took the time to scratch her surface.

She believed she was worth more than her brother and her sister. Why should she just accept what life handed out to her. In her mind, she was entitled to the life she had now created for herself, judging herself better than them. She had gone to college and gained qualifications.

She now worked for a top solicitors firm in London, their offices a short walk from The Gherkin and she was about to marry into one of the wealthiest families in the country.

Her engagement had been covered by Hello magazine; a two-page spread detailing her upcoming nuptials to one of England’s most eligible bachelors.

The very fact she had to leave her idealic life and be reminded of where she came from, who she was related to, infuriated her; bound by a sense of duty to pay her respects.

Truth was, she had no respect for her family. Respect is earned, not automatic.

She had not been looking forward to telling her parents she did not want them at her wedding, so recent events were a saving grace. She still had to tell her brother though. That was something she really wasn’t looking forward to; his reaction when he found out that her fiancé’s brother would be giving her away.

Alice sensed someone behind her, assuming it was her fiancé Ben, she paused a while longer, watching Sean and Adam frolicking. It wasn’t until she heard the female voice that she spun round to face Rachel, standing in the doorway of the imposing and luxurious open-plan kitchen.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to make you jump.” She spoke again.

“It’s okay. I was just lost in my thoughts there for a while.” A half smile, half awkward grimace worked its way over her mouth.

Rachel stepped into the room a little further and looked beyond Alice, who stood at the window that gave view to an impressive manicured lawn. She saw Adam, standing on the stone wall that lined the decked path, leading down to the garden. He was fearlessly throwing himself off; the confidence evident that he knew Sean would catch him.

Rachel smiled at the scene.

Alice clocked the puppy-dog look on her face. “He is good with him?” The question was hidden.

“Yes he is.” Rachel nodded in agreement. “To be honest, I don’t think Adam and I would have got through the last month without him.”

Alice resisted the urge to scoff at the praise of her brother. She watched Rachel for a few seconds, absorbing the sentiment the woman obviously represented. She felt a fearful anxiety low down in the pit of her stomach; not quite sure why, but it was enough to make her act on it.

She reached Rachel within a few strides; the urgency with which she seized hold of her and spun her round, put her off guard.

“You do know he’s not who he makes out to be… Don’t you?”

Rachel wasn’t sure of the question, or whether Alice really wanted an answer. She narrowed her eyes and slightly tilted her head.

“You see it, don’t ya…? That hollowness in his eyes?”

Alice’s controlled voice wavered slightly, the Essex twang rearing through on certain words.

All those elocution lessons Ben’s family insisted she took, rapidly letting her down. She silently cursed herself that she allowed all the hard and sometimes painful work to be undone; immediately blaming Sean for the speech downfall. She felt Rachel try to tug herself free of her tight grasp but saw the quick flicker of acknowledgement, before she showed a feigned confusion. Loosening her grip, she let Rachel back away.

Before any more could be said between the two women, Sean and Adam crashed through the heavy oak door that led out into the garden; the little boy whishing past his mother and through the kitchen at top speed, excitedly yelling at Sean to follow.

“I promised him a re-match at that football game he loves.”

For the first time, Rachel saw him look ill at ease He stood in the middle of the room, with a look of almost surprise that people were in his house and now, whilst explaining their sudden eruption into the room, he looked awkward. There wasn’t any other word.

Alice had unnerved her. It wasn’t just what she had said, but the ease in which she managed to put into words what lay in the dark depths of her own subconscious; things that had never been allowed to become fully formed thoughts.

Alice seemed to be unnerving Sean too. He wouldn’t quite meet her eye, yet she stared right at him. It was the quietness of her which he found unsettling and she knew it. She had learnt that, if she waited long enough, he would always speak first. It gave her an upper hand over him. She needed that with Sean, always had.

He would lie his way out of any trouble he got himself in. The less someone accused him of something, the more he began to give himself away. This useful quality she became skilled at, proved to be quite a hit with her employers, which in turn had led her to meet Ben.

She knew her brother had something to do with her sister and nieces deaths. She also knew, she had absolutely no proof of any of her inner thoughts. As much as she was embarrassed by the rest of her family, she despised her brother with a strength that was much more dominant; she struggled to control her reactions in his presence.

It stemmed from a permanent memory; they were just sounds but she couldn’t get them out of her head. She was about eleven or twelve and it was the middle of the night, she had been woken up by a low
ssschhing
and whimpers from Maisy. Their small shared bedroom meant their beds were head to foot. The memory told her nothing, it gave her no hint of what it meant and for years she told herself she hadn’t even heard it; that she had dreamt it.

But she knew she hadn’t. She knew in her heart that it was real; that night was real. She wished that she had turned round to the noises. That she hadn’t shut her eyes again and drifted back off to sleep. Lately she wished that more than anything. But then, she was also glad she hadn’t.

If those sounds were what she suspected they were, if what happened in her worst nightmares did actually happen, then as a small child still herself, she thanked god for making her stay facing the other way.

The graceless silence that had begun to build in the room became almost tangible; an invisible black smoke swam in and out, consuming each of them with a thick toxic hold. Sean spoke first, eventually, just like Alice predicted he would.

“You look good? Y’know… not bad. How’s things?” It was lame and they all knew it.

Rachel was even more thrown by Sean’s sudden flustered ramble. What did sister have over brother?

Alice smiled then and Sean seemed to relax a little. She didn’t answer him though, just smiled at him with a smile, which looked like her sister’s, but didn’t quite have the same shine as Maisy’s did. Alice, although an attractive woman, didn’t have her stunning looks, or her slim, petit build, taking after her mother for her dumpy form, but she did have Maisy’s look about her. The resemblance was there.

Before Alice could reply to her brother, Ben walked into the kitchen, holding an empty whisky glass; completely oblivious to the tension that was so clearly visible.

“Ahh, there you are my love. You will never guess who I just had a rather interesting conversation with. Only Kenny Maltrowitz.”

All three of them turned to the door, where Ben had appeared. This was the first time Sean had ever actually seen his sister’s fiancé. His parents and Maisy had met him, when Alice bought him home once, but he had yet to have the pleasure. The man standing in the doorway was not what he had expected.

For a start Ben was black. No-one had mentioned this fact. Not that it bothered Sean. Some of the best cocaine importers he had dealt with over the years had been black.

He quite liked them, but it was still a shock all the same. He wasn’t prepared for the sheer size of the man either.

At over six feet tall, he towered over all of them and it struck Sean that, when together with his sister, they must look a rather strange sight. Alice was short and plump, compared to this incredibly well manicured, gigantic man.

“I do apologise. Where are my manners?” Ben’s thick, dense voice purred off his wide lips.

Placing his glass on a side-board by the door, he walked over to Sean, who noticed the Savile Row label, as he reached into the inside pocket of his blazer jacket. Ben brought out a business card and shoved it into Sean’s hand with a strong, firm handshake.

“I do not believe we have met. I am Benjamin Marshall-Howard. Please let me offer my sincere condolences for your recent loss.”

While turning away from Sean and introducing himself to Rachel, Sean looked down at the card.

Allen & Marshall-Howard

Criminal Defence Lawyers 9 Carmelite Street - London - EC4Y 0DR Benjamin Marshall-Howard.
Senior Partner

Tel: (020) 7222 1234 Fax: 020 794 5333 The articulate and eloquent voice denoted the poles-apart difference between Sean and Ben. It demonstrated not only the class distinction but the variations in social status and social confidence. Ben took centre stage in a room. He commanded attention, but not in the aggressive, volatile way that Sean would, more in an authoritive, holding court way. It wasn’t something that could be forged. It showed years of grooming, prepping and moulding; a life that was consumed with brushing shoulders with society’s elite. Ben’s natural grace threw Sean off guard completely. Already wary of his sister, he now had to contend with her upper-class significant other. He didn’t like it when he felt threatened and although Ben’s demeanour was friendly enough, he felt out of his depth with this man. His eloquent speech conveyed the intelligence he possessed and it was that which scared Sean more than anything.

Alice noticed Sean’s discomfort and it pleased her that Ben had that effect. She had hoped he would and, as usual, her fiancé did not disappoint her. She thought about letting him squirm under the awkwardness for a little while longer, enjoying the scene before her, but decided it could wait for another time.

She had been around her brother for far longer than she had originally planned and now all she wanted was to go home, back to her world and wash off the stench of her past.“We really should be going dear,” She said to Ben, lightly touching him on the arm. “If we want to get back to Chelsea before it is dark.”